Shen Xihe paid little attention to the two female historians, Sun and Qian. As long as they were obedient, she wouldn’t make things difficult for them. If they didn’t understand the rules, she would teach them herself.

She was still pondering Bian Xianyi’s death – too many things didn’t make sense, yet she couldn’t find a thread to follow.

What Shen Xihe didn’t know was that two days later, atop the snow-capped Tianshan Mountains, a snow-white gyrfalcon circled overhead, letting out a high-pitched cry. Xiao Huayong stood at the peak.

Thousands of rays of golden light enveloped him, his dark cloak a stark silhouette against the vast wilderness. Hearing the cry, he lifted his head skyward. The gyrfalcon dove straight toward him, its massive form casting a shadow over him.

Xiao Huayong stood motionless, his expression blank as he watched it approach. When it was still several hundred meters away, it suddenly veered off, attacking a snow leopard that was charging from another direction.

Xiao Huayong stood with his hands behind his back, watching as the snow leopard in the snow abruptly halted to avoid the gyrfalcon, only to be entangled by it.

After several exchanges, the gyrfalcon’s talons wounded the leopard’s forehead, spattering several drops of blood on the snow-white ground. The snow leopard roared a few times before retreating.

The massive yet agile gyrfalcon glided toward Xiao Huayong. He extended his arm for it to land, patted its wings, and retrieved a small bamboo cylinder from it.

Shen Xihe didn’t know why his messages traveled faster than the empire’s urgent dispatches. It was because he had specially trained several hawks, this particular falcon answering only to him, capable of covering a thousand li in half a shichen. While his other messenger birds weren’t as swift, they were still several times faster than horses.

Upon reading the scroll’s contents, Xiao Huayong’s expression turned so cold that even the gyrfalcon dared not approach, immediately taking wing.

He pulled out a scroll painting from behind him, depicting Xiao Changyu’s likeness. He had brought it specifically to determine if his elder brother of a few months had truly come here. If not, finding him would provide some more entertainment.

Unfurling the scroll, he commanded in a deep voice: “Find him.”

The gyrfalcon, trained to remarkable intelligence, might not understand words but comprehended his intent, immediately soaring upward.

Xiao Changyu was indeed in the Tianshan Mountains, earnestly searching for snow lotus, though he avoided the dangerous areas.

Following the gyrfalcon, Xiao Huayong quickly found Xiao Changyu. Compared to Xiao Huayong’s immaculate appearance, with only his boots showing traces of dirt, Xiao Changyu looked quite disheveled.

When the fierce and elite gyrfalcon circled above him, Xiao Changyu assumed he’d merely caught another predator’s attention. He’d encountered many dangers in the Tianshan Mountains, but he hadn’t expected the gyrfalcon would not attack, instead seeming to lock onto him, preventing his easy escape.

He waited a long while before seeing a tall figure, stepping through the soft snow, approaching step by step from afar.

His posture was straight and proud, his shadow stretched by the sunlight, casting a sword-like silhouette on the snow.

Xiao Changyu watched him approach step by step until his features became clear in the cold wind, and his pupils contracted.

Toward this younger brother whom he’d had to be wary of since birth, Xiao Changyu had never felt admiration or jealousy – only deep apprehension and heavy fear.

Just as now, with each steady step seeming to tread on his heart, making it harder to breathe as he drew closer.

“It seems you know many things,” seeing Xiao Changyu showing no surprise, only vigilance and wariness.

Xiao Changyu smiled bitterly: “I never wanted to know.”

“But you already know.” Xiao Huayong stopped less than three steps away from Xiao Changyu.

Taking a deep breath, Xiao Changyu asked: “Seventh Brother, are you going to kill me?”

“Out of consideration for our blood ties, I’ll give you the chance to take your own life.” Xiao Huayong’s gaze was indifferent.

Without raising his chin, merely gazing at Xiao Changyu levelly, he still conveyed an overwhelming sense of superiority.

“Why?” Xiao Changyu didn’t understand. If Xiao Huayong didn’t want him to know his secret, he could have simply not appeared before him.

Xiao Huayong had come specifically to kill him – what had he done to inspire such murderous intent?

“Bian Xianyi is dead.” Xiao Huayong watched Xiao Changyu, noting his slight startlement. “Neither grieving nor surprised?”

Xiao Changyu realized and involuntarily stepped back twice.

Xiao Huayong matched his retreat with two slow steps forward: “Why grieve or be surprised over something planned?”

Xiao Changyu’s expression changed drastically.

“You two share such deep feelings. When you first started plotting with her, wasn’t it to lure me to deal with you?” Xiao Huayong said softly. “Step by step, coming here, she dies in the palace, you have an accident here, and thereafter you can be together forever. Who would think two dead people could still be alive?”

“You—” Xiao Changyu’s heart pounded.

Xiao Changyu had long known that this seventh brother, who had always feigned illness, was the most terrifying person not just in the royal family, but in the entire world. Once he fixed his attention on someone, they lived or died at his whim – and if he wanted them to suffer a fate worse than death, even seeking death would be denied them!

He had never harbored ambitions for the position of Crown Prince, not because he lacked grand aspirations or imperial favor, but because he had seen this person’s true face at the age of twelve!

As long as Xiao Huayong lived, unless he didn’t want it himself, no one could take anything from his grasp.

Now, with Xiao Huayong exposing their entire plan in just a few sentences, Xiao Changyu was terrified.

Yes, Bian Xianyi had faked her death. Once he received the news, he would also fake his death in the Tianshan Mountains. Then they could abandon everything, find a remote mountain to live in seclusion, leading an ordinary life of farming, free from worldly struggles.

Originally, he and Bian Xianyi could have been together – he only needed to wait until she came of age to request her hand in marriage. But the Bian family met with misfortune before she reached that age. The Minister of Works’ negligence had led to a dam collapse, leaving countless people homeless, and she was sent to the palace.

He didn’t want to marry anyone else, but he couldn’t marry her – neither His Majesty nor propriety would allow it!

He had come of age this year, and His Majesty had inquired about his marriage several times. If he didn’t relent by next year at the latest, His Majesty would arrange a marriage, unwilling to let him delay the Crown Prince’s wedding.

With no other option, he had planned this escape with Bian Xianyi, but how could two people fake their deaths convincingly enough to fool everyone?

They had originally planned to use the autumn hunt – he would fake his death first, and settle outside, and Bian Xianyi would follow after a year or so, thus avoiding suspicion.

But this punishment to Tianshan was an unexpected blessing, making it easier for him to fake his death and more believable.

He wasn’t searching for snow lotus here but rather seeking the right timing and location.

“I admire your willingness to forsake wealth and glory for love. But you two, of all the things you shouldn’t have done, you shouldn’t have used her to escape, nearly causing her death.”

Xiao Huayong’s expression grew colder than the snow beneath his feet: “Didn’t you want to ‘die’? Today, I’ll make your pretense real, let your beloved taste the flavor of losing her loved one.”